Ten thousand years ago a great evil descended upon the world and caused great suffering that all would forget.
Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety five years ago the travellers of the world, the Cetra, defeated and imprisoned the great evil for all time.
Thirty six years ago the Shin-Ra mercenary group began a project to create the perfect solder by harnessing the Lifestream and met with success, they called it Project G.
Thirty five years ago a group of scientists went on an expedition to the north and discovered a being of unknown origin encased within Materia, they later named this creature Jenova.
Thirty four years ago the scientists Gast and Hojo had done extensive studies on the subject Jenova's body and made many discoveries, one of which being that this being was pregnant and even though the body seemed devoid of life, the child within, who they named Animae, was very much alive, it was removed and studied closely, as was Jenova, whose cells were most perplexing. It was soon found that the cells, once injected into human flesh gave the user intense capabilities beyond that of normal men, this quickly reopened the project for the perfect solder again, they called it Project S.
Twenty four years ago Shin-Ra changed its name to the Shin-Ra Electric Company and began construction of reactors and the industrial marvel known as Midgar.
Nine years ago was the beginning and end of the great war that the Shin-Ra were waging against Wutai and an amazing warrior known as Sephiroth was made into the new general of the Shin-Ra army after the mysterious death of its previous general.
Seven years ago the great Sephiroth went insane on a routine trip to the small village of Nibelheim and was thought to have died in battle against a completely unknown member of Soldier.
Four years ago Sephiroth returned with Jenova and killed the president of Shin-Ra and started the reunion, but in his quest to end the world he was defeated by a group of young men and women lead by a man named Cloud who claimed was the one who killed Sephiroth in years past, Jenova was never found.
Two years ago a deadly virus known as Geostigma swept the globe and was slowly killing people left and right and was thought to have been caused by three young men named Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj, but was actually being caused by the Jenova cells that had infected the Lifestream, it was also found that they were Sephiroth clones and that they world actually bring back the tyrant only to then be defeated by the young warrior Cloud again and upon their defeat a cure for Geostigma was then discovered.
One year ago a dark secret from Shin-Ra's past had risen from the depths of Midgar called Deepground and would cause a great war for the survival of the planet when their leader Weiss tried to resurrect the final WEAPON, Omega, but he was defeated by one of the heroes of the Jenova War, one Vincent Valentine.
Now: ".....The world hasn't forgotten and she's still angry...with the coming war she might just kill us all."
PROLOGUE
Three Years Ago:
The forgotten forest was a silent place as if it were secluded form the rest of the world and it was eerie in nature as it didn't have much in the way of wildlife and the glowing husks of branches that grew from the ground didn't even provide foliage yet the sky was unable to be seen in this ever dark place. The forest felt uneasy as if their was a natural disaster occurring, but it was still and silent, no, it felt more like the forest was angry as if it had memories and surging emotions, but couldn't vent itself.
Deep within the unseen areas of the forest near the northern mountain face was an area rich in minerals and a surge in the Lifestream, a treasure-trove of materia that had enough power to keep Midgar operational for hundreds of years, but something else was here, a being within the enriched and powerful materia, feeding off of the power constantly and gaining extreme doses of the power it holds everyday. If anyone found this being it would be hard to say how long it had been within the crystal-like shafts, but one thing was certain: it's a man.
The man's face was in a constant almost serene look, but on this day he wore a look of anger, even hatred. It was him, the intense feeling within the forest was coming from him and it was only getting worse...no more...the materia crystals all around him began to hum and shake and it got louder and louder as if the forest was made of vibrating glass and then it completely stopped. The crystal which encased him began to crack. The sounds of buckling minerals echoed, low tones and high tones almost resembling the sound of shifting icebergs and then sharply the sound was halted by the final ring of dropping bits of crystal almost sounding like pebbles hitting dirt and glass.
The man slowly began opening his eyes and upon finding himself in the dark, glowing forest he gazed around surveying the area. His hair was black as coal and his clothing was made of leather, tight like armor on top, but more like a coat as it went down his legs and his eyes were a piercing and haunting green. He looked almost confused as if he had no idea where or who he was, then suddenly memories of his past flooded back to him and instinctively he quickly grabbed the sides of his head as he tries to deal with the information overload. It then begins to subside and he can't help but wonder how long he's been in stasis like that, but then suddenly he remembers something, he knows it's important, but the memory is still hazy and so it's difficult to remember, but then it hits him, a name, and he recalls all of the joy, and pain, that name brought.
He begins to take steps towards the forest, focusing on that name until he finally remembers that the name he's remembering is the man who tried to killed him...a man he once trusted with his life. It wells up inside of him until he could hold it no longer, he speaks in a low voice, his teeth clenched in obvious anger "...I will never rest until you are wiped from existence."
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CHAPTER 1
Summer was upon the land and the days were long, but full of warmth and vigor for another beautiful day. The nights were often cool and rather pleasant in the northern part of the western continent, but this night was different, the air was chilling and the crickets had not even given a single chirp.
Something wasn't right and Cloud felt the total effects of the eerie night as he cautiously made his way through the old slums of Midgar. He often came back to the dead city to reflect on the past and what he had done and been through, but it was always hard to look back while also trying to keep his eyes on the future. He had lost friends and loved ones and he didn't know what the future held for him, but he hoped it would be peaceful, even though he felt something nagging at him. There were to many unanswered questions, was Sephiroth really gone? and what ever happened to Jenova?.
He gazed around and was surprised so much of the city had survived after almost being hit by Meteor and his battle with Sephiroth and also the assault on the members of Deepground, he was just happy that the place he felt was a haven was still in tact for the most part, it was 'Her' place after all.
Cloud wasn't sure how old the Church was as he walked up to it, but it was probably here long before Midgar was built. It had sustained a bit more damage after the fall of the great city, but the flowers still bloomed every year.
Cloud looked around as he stepped within and then made his way over to the flower bed where the moon beamed through the hole in the roof making him feel rather nostalgic.
"I bet even these flowers haven't forgotten you" Cloud then smiled to himself.
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War and battle were the last things on her mind as Tifa began washing the bar after a hard days work serving customers at the 7th Heaven. She went to the door and locked up and began shutting the lights off to get ready to pack it in for the day.
She headed upstairs and headed for the room at the end of the hall on the right. She knocked on the door then opened to see Marlene and Denzel playing a game.
"Hi Tifa" they both replied "Hey! you're cheating!" Marlene cried at Denzel, he scoffed at the accusation, Tifa chuckling at them. Tifa takes a seat on the bed and smiles at them.
"Is Cloud back yet?" Marlene asked, Tifa only shaking her head "No, but he'll be back soon" Marlene gazes down at the table in front of her looking a little saddened by that.
"Why does he go there anyway?" Denzel asked "He goes there to think...at least that's what he tells me" Tifa saying with a bit of uncertainty in her voice.
"Ah...I guess you're upset that your boyfriend doesn't ask you to come huh?" Denzel grinning the whole time he's saying it "I'm not upset and he's not my boyfriend!" Tifa blushing at the claim and shifts her gaze "...sure" Denzel says sarcastically.
"Don't be so juvenile Denzel! they're not boyfriend and girlfriend...they're married" Marlene says in a matter-of-fact tone, Tifa blushing only more and stands up quickly "Okay time for you two to go to bed!" They gaze up at her a little shocked
"Why is your face red?" Marlene asked "Don't change the subject young lady, up up! time for bed, it's late" Tifa feeling as if she was going to faint from embarrassment "Aww!...okay, Tifa" They both got up and headed for their rooms.
Tifa sighed in relief and tried to gain her bearings, when a picture of Cloud, herself and the rest of the group caught her eye and it made her smile as she reflected on the past "A lot sure has happened" She stood up and began to ready herself for bed.
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A couple of hours had past since Cloud sat down within the church and he figured it was about time to go. He smiled as he took one last gaze at the flowers only to be interrupted by the sound of the church doors letting out a creaking sound. Cloud quickly snapped his head back and moved to his feet as if a fire was being lit underneath him. His eyes locked onto a brief glimpse of a figure that quickly disappeared and in his eagerness to find out what it was he ran to the door and out into the opening gazing all around in search of whatever it was that had paid him a visit, but it was nowhere in sight until a crashing sound rang out into the dead of night towards the central collum of the city.
He began running towards the area and soon came to an open area surrounded and cluttered by large pieces of machinery and debris when it catches his eyes, a humanoid figure standing about fifteen feet away from him.
"Who are you?" Cloud called out in hopes it was just some poor fellow who lived in the slums. The figure shifted and turned facing Cloud then quickly ducking down and began growling at him as if it were some kind of animal, cloud quickly pulled out two of his large swords not knowing what to expect. The creature let out a high-pitched cry that sounded inhuman then everything fell quite which Cloud didn't like, he was starting to get a bad feeling and before he knew it similar creatures started to emerge from all over and were quickly surrounding him.
They came crawling out of the machinery and and all manner of nooks and cracks and were getting awfully close. The creatures looked basically human, but they were twisted as if they had been experimented on and there were a lot of them, at least a hundred.
Cloud readied himself for the attack as they all seemed so agitated and on edge, but then a great bellow ripped through the area and a massive creature came crashing down in front of Cloud. The beast looked like the other creature, but even more twisted as if it were an organic machine and it stood a good twelve feet tall and could easily weight seven hundred pounds or more.
The beast lunged out at Cloud suddenly, but he was ready for it and quickly rolled back feeling the intense force of the attack just missing his back, but that surprised Cloud even more because this creature despite its size wasn't slow. Cloud quickly used the momentum of the backward roll to then propel himself directly at the beast in a leap, his swords slashing out, one cracking down and wounding the shoulder of the great monster, but the second attack quickly turning into a defensive move as the beast swept its large arm out to crash into Clouds airborne form only to receive a deep cut from the razor sharp blade, but it wasn't without it's damage as Cloud was swung to the left of the beast landing on his feet, suddenly his left arm seized up from the recoil which he quickly tried to shake off, but finding little time as the beast already began bring his massive fists down upon Cloud, but Cloud was no push-over and lunged forward dragging both his swords against the beasts abdomen and then he quickly jumped away only to find himself confronted by the smaller creatures behind him, clawing at him, but only finding air as he jumped back towards the oncoming beast.
Cloud needed to finish this quickly, but all of his attacks seemed to be ineffective so he decided to up the ante and placed his swords together creating an even larger one and just as the beast came barreling down on him Cloud swung his sword and felt as it ripped deep into the hard flesh of the beast, who quickly jumped back as the sound of its dismembered right arm hit the ground with a thud.
The beast made a great leap and landed on the side of a large pillar then turning and gazing out at Cloud then it began to let out a low groan and Cloud's eyes began to widen as he witnessed the beast's arm regenerate "You gotta be kidding me!" the arm was fully recovered and the beast just sat there for a moment before it let out an extremely loud roar and then the smaller ones joined in.
Cloud made quick turns trying to keep his eyes on everything around him, then suddenly, when his back was turned one of the smaller creatures leaped out at Cloud in hopes of dealing a severe blow and just as the creature was upon him and it was to late an intense energy filled the area and suddenly the creature was a few feet from Cloud and cut into four separate pieces. Cloud felt the intense force and quickly turned seeing the creature completely sliced apart which made him look around to see the cause of it and he noticed that all the creatures had their attention on it and Cloud then shifted his attention to find a silhouetted figure atop a mass of machinery, his swords gleaming in the light of the moon and his eyes striking out past the threads of hair.
"These creatures are the twisted minions of a madman who claims to serve the mother of the earth" The man said to Cloud before jumping down and then standing next to him and Cloud got a good look at him, but it was his eyes that struck him the most, they were just like 'His'.
"I am Animae" Cloud nodded and replied "Cloud" Animae nodded back and shifted his gaze back at the creatures "Careful, they're dangerous...the big ones regenerate" Cloud had already been an eyewitness to that "I noticed" then, without warning the great beast let out a large roar and the smaller ones began rushing in at the two, with a quick nod over their shoulders at each other they both leaped out on either side and began to slice up the creatures one by one.
Cloud was quickly finding out that the smaller creatures weren't as impressive as the large one as they tended to be about the same speed, but they were very predictable. Cloud was in constant motion swinging his sword in an almost universal maneuver striking down enemies left, right, center, above, below and behind and they were like a warm-up exercise to him, but a tedious one none-the-less and even though there seemed to be no end to the line of enemies his eyes would wander in search of Animae only catching brief glimpses of him and it quickly came to his attention that the man was never in the same spot, almost as if he were all over the place.
Animae moved with lithe and precision, his every attack a killing blow and always finding a target, the creatures had no idea they had no chance of ever matching up to such a powerful adversary, but they still tried with a suicidal recklessness that was commendable as long as they didn't mind loosing their lives willingly.
His large sword dripped with endless lines and streaks of blood as Cloud claimed one victory after another, but he soon noticed that they were getting smart to how he was attacking and it made them a little hard to hit, then his eyes caught Animae again and they were doing the same with him and he seemed to do fine taking them out, when one would stay back he watched as Animae went right for them instead of waiting and made even quicker kills, an impressive technique that Cloud put into motion for himself and found the same results, but such a technique was about to become dangerous as the large beast crashed down in front of him and began lashing at him, Cloud quickly sidestepped and the beast only met one of the smaller creatures with it's great appendage.
Cloud was beginning to get a little overwhelmed with all the small creatures chasing after him and the beast jumping around trying to cut him off and he was running his blade through as many of the smaller creatures as he could, but one or two kills in each pass was taking to long and he need to get rid of the beast and he quickly came up with a plan to do so as he ran around avoiding the large one. He made a final pass on the creatures and managed to take out three of them and with the beast on his tail it was time to put his plan into action, he quickly turned on the beast and lunged at him in order to take one of his limbs again, but the beast learned from the first time and flailed his arms out swinging horizontilly, one arm going low, the other high, Cloud had no escape as the upper arm crashed into his chest and sent him flying at a pile of debris, the crash sounded loud and painful as Cloud cried out upon impact and tried to gain his footing as he watched the beast coming straight for him and just as the beast was about to claim its victory a large flash of light blinded the area and the beast was quickly caught off guard only to shift its body towards the flash to find it's source.
Before the beast knew what hit it a large blast of energy came ripping through the air and into its great bulk, rendering it to ash in mere seconds. once solid bone and muscle now blew in the wind as if it were nothingness beforehand. Cloud sat there in awe as he gazed over at the source of the blast only to see Animae standing there, his left hand smoking slightly which was visible in the light of the moon.
Animae made his way over to Cloud "Are you alright?" Cloud nodded at him as he began to stand "Yeah, I just wasn't expecting that. Where did they all go anyway" Animae nodded at the response then started walking over towards the clearing "They ran" He called back.
"Don't come back here" Cloud looked a little confused by that, but he quickly took a few steps as he noticed that Animae was going to leave "Hold on! who are you?" Animae was on top of some rubble as he heard Cloud.
"We'll meet again...be certain of that, hero of the Jenova war" the air began to swirl and gust as an aura started to surround Animae and then, almost as if the air was sucked from the atmosphere he blasted upwards leaving a dust storm on the ground as he went into the night sky and disappearing.
Cloud stood there for a moment trying to figure it all out "Were those wings?"
